On Fri, Aug 16, 2013 at 03:24:55PM -0400, Tony Sebro wrote:
On Wed, 2013-08-14 at 16:24 -0400, Tony Sebro wrote:
TL,DR: Please vote on whether to allow LibreTees to print and sell T-shirts and other promotional material items for Inkscape, where a portion of the proceeds gets donated back to Inkscape (or a project or charity of Inkscape's choosing).
On 08/16/2013 05:30 AM, Tavmjong Bah wrote:
I don't have any problems with this. What do others think?
Tav
Thanks, Tav. Does anyone else want to weigh in?
Googling inkscape t-shirts shows some existing products out there:
http://www.zazzle.com/pd/styles/pd-235464991333529915?dp=&qs=inkscape%20... http://www.cafepress.com/mf/22773070/3inkscape_tank-top http://www.cafepress.com/mf/43166633/inkscape_tshirt
Based on a look at libretees.com's kickstarter page, I like that their motivation sounds more aligned with improving marketing of FOSS projects, rather than merely cashing in. Thus I would vote to approve.
It would make my decision easier if we could see the design first, although I know this gets to be a chicken-and-egg problem (why fund making a design, if they don't know whether or not we'll approve it). However, I would hope to see two things in their design:
1. Nothing offensive. Obviously. 2. High calibre design. Inkscape is a drawing tool, and will be judged based on the design quality of the advertisement.
But I don't think it's necessary to condition my vote based on these; I think their effort's success or failure will already be dependent on achieving both goals. So +1 from me.
Bryce
Best, -Tony
Longer version: Hi, all.
Earlier this week, I was approached by Jared Contrascere of LibreTees (www.libretees.com), a start-up for-profit company that plans to design, print, and market t-shirts and stickers bearing the names and logos of various leading FLOSS projects. They're interested in creating t-shirts for the Inkscape project.
Bear in mind that, under the newly-ratified (but as of now unpublished) TM policy, LibreTees would be able to create and sell merchandise bearing the Inkscape name and logo without additional permission, *provided* that they were only using unmodified graphics from Inkscape.com. As you can see from the link, LibreTees tends to create modified versions of project logos in their designs.
Jared has sent an official request to create promotional materials for Inkscape; I've attached it below. He's also been in touch with Jon from Inkscape's Press Relations team. In addition, I spoke to him by phone today, and can add the following info:
• target retail price for the shirts: undecided, but likely $12.50 to $15 USD. • Once the official website launches, Libretees.com will turn into an e-retailer site selling t-shirts with designs for multiple FLOSS projects. • Some portion (yet to be determined) will be donated back to the project or to a charity of the project's choosing. • They're looking to find a t-shirt manufacture that doesn't use sweatshop labor • conservative target date for first printing: November 2013
Open question: I don't know if they plan to release any t-shirt design under a Creative Commons license.
Based on the above, I ask the Inkscape Committee to please vote to approve Libretee's request to approve the creation of Inkscape promotional materials.
If you have any questions or need any additional information, please let me know.
Best, -Tony
-------- Original Message -------- Tony,
I'm with LibreTees, a recently-launched project that promotes free/open software through consumer and commodity activism. This is similar to the idea behind (RED) products being sold to help fight AIDS, or people buying a Toyota Prius to encourage a lesser negative impact on the environment.
We want to sell t-shirts in one place on the Internet that promotes and benefits the free/open source community. In addition to that, we want to contribute funds back to these projects to cover hosting fees and other project-related costs. Further, we want to have a positive impact on our local community here in Washington, DC.
We currently have a Kickstarter campaign in progress, and we are very interested in producing an Inkscape shirt for display and sale on our Kickstarter site. This campaign can currently be viewed at www.libretees.com.
Please let me know if we could have permission to create promotional wear/materials for the Inkscape project. If you have any questions for me, please let me know!
Best, Jared
-- Jared N. Contrascere President :: LibreTees, LLC Phone - (703) 599-6233
Message sent via Atmail Open - http://atmail.org/
-- Tony Sebro, General Counsel, Software Freedom Conservancy +1-212-461-3245 x11 tony@...41... www.sfconservancy.org